High winds, torrential rain and crashing waves killed two people and temporarily shut a Spanish opera house, while blustery weather elsewhere in Europe delayed trains and caused severe flooding.

A 47-year-old man and an 11-year-old girl drowned in the Canary Islands when they were swept away by waves on La Graciosa Island Thursday .Two other members of the same family – a 16-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl – were rescued from the waves. In another incident, a Russian yachtsman was plucked from his foundering boat.

Valencia’s opera house, which was scheduled for a Friday concert, was shut after parts of the building’s masonry fell.

Regional government spokesman "Maximo Buch" said that the building would remain closed indefinitely until repairs made it safe again.

In Britain, the foul weather complicated efforts to clean up from a previous storm that hit just before Christmas, lashing the island nation with driving rain, causing floods, cutting power and snarling travel for thousands.

British energy authorities said some 20,000 people were without power across the country.